1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of drying electronic components which have been washed with water.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, electronic components are washed with water in an intermediate or final stage of the manufacturing process steps. The electronic components thus washed with water must be then dried.
To this end, such electronic components are generally subjected to:
(1) substitutional drying with chlorofluorocarbon or alcohol; or
(2) hot air drying or ventilation vacuum drying.
However, the aforementioned conventional drying methods have the following problems, which must be solved:
The first drying method (1) leads to environmental problems such as destruction of the ozonosphere when chlorofluorocarbon is employed, and there is a risk of fire when alcohol is employed.
In the second drying method (2), on the other hand, a plurality of electronic components tend to overlap and adhere to each other, particularly when the electronic components are in the form of thin plates. Thus, an extremely long time is required for drying the electronic components by simply applying hot air or placing them in a vacuum. In the case of ventilation vacuum drying, further, a long time is required for drying the electronic components, due to extremely inferior efficiency of heat transfer.